CBD First National Report - India - National Biodiversity Authority

1.3 In ancient India, efforts were orientedtowards the preservation of nature. For instance,Kautilya’s Arthasastra (321-297 BC) clearly laiddown principles for protecting wild elephants. It isstated that “in the extreme limit of the country,elephant forests, separated from wild tracts shallbe formed. The superintendent of elephant forestswith the retinue of forest guards shall not onlymaintain the upkeep of the forests, but also acquainthimself with all passages for entrance into orexit from such of them as are mountainous orboggy or contain rivers or lakes. Whoeverkills an elephant shall be put to death......”Widespread reverence not only for elephants, butalso tigers, cattle, monkeys, snakes and plantsstill exist.1 . 4 Reverence for plants and animals in Indiaguided traditional people to even sacrifice theirlives to protect biological diversity (biodiversity). Anumber of such instances where men and womenhave sacrificed their lives have been recorded inIndian history. The case of the sacrificingtheir lives to prevent the destruction of trees byloggers drew world wide sympathy. Another wellknown movement is the ‘Chipko’ (i.e., ‘hug thetrees’) in the Garhwal district of Uttar Pradesh.This movement was in protest of logging and thelocal women expressed this by hugging the treesthat were earmarked for felling.1.5 Traditional conservation efforts in India wentbeyond individual species. Representative patchesof major ecosystems that were preserved as sacredforests/groves, ponds, rivers, mountains and cavescan be seen all over the country. In India there hasbeen widespread awareness of the conservationand management of sacred groves.1.6 Traditional farming practices identified,domesticated and preserved a wide range of plantsand animals which gave rise to the rich heritage ofagrobiodiversity. Women exchanging farmconserved seeds at the time of important ceremoniesis a widespread practice throughout rural India.Seasonal dietary practices/restrictions, closedperiods of animal harvests, taboos on huntinganimals are prevalent to a largemeasure in the country.1.7 There are many local traditions for conservingand enriching biodiversity which are yet to bechronicled. Indian tradition has nevertheless pavedthe pathways for all formal and institutionalisedefforts in conserving biodiversity in the country.Conservation directives in India are sensitive notonly to biodiversity per se, but also to the richtraditions that weaved human lives in the countrywith its plants, animals and other living and nonlivingresources.Initiatives and Efforts1.8 India’s rich tradition of natural resourceconservation has given rise to several informal andsystems of in situ conservation. situconservation of biodiversity in India becameorganised and institutionalised gradually Duringthe colonial period, the system of Reserved Forestswas established. This system however, isolated thelocal humans from natural areas.1.9 In Independent India, the need to conservebiodiversity integrating the needs of people wasidentified as a priority even in the early years ofplanning and development. This finds mention asearly as 1950 the first Five Year Plan.1.10 The Government of India as early as 1952,enunciated the National Forest Policy with the aimof conserving a third of the forest cover in thecountry. The key issues that governed theformulation of this policy are,The need for evolving a system of balanced andcomplimentary land use under which each type ofland is allotted to that form of use, under whichit would produce most and deteriorate least.The need for checking denudation inmountainous region on which depends theperennial water supply of the river system whosebasin constitutes the fertile core of the country,the erosion progressing space along the treelessbanks of the great rivers leading to ravineformation and on vast stretches of undulatingwasteland depriving the adjoining fields of theirfertility and the invasion of on coastaltracts and the shifting of sand dune moreparticularly in the Rajputana desert.